Poles and finances? We rate ourselves as three. Examples of Swiss franc loans or Amber Gold show that we are right

Examples of Swiss franc loans or Amber Gold show that society lacks understanding of the mechanisms governing the economy and finances. In terms of economic knowledge, Poles rate themselves as three, with the worst marks in cybersecurity and investing. According to economics experts, financial management and investing should be taught at school, although not as a separate subject. However, deepening economic knowledge is also needed among older social groups.

- Poles need better economic education. Let's all remember how it was with Swiss franc loans, when most of those who took them claimed that they did not know that the exchange rate could change. It is similar with risk, how many blunders we had in the form of encouraging people to invest in Amber Gold, because "you will never lose on gold". This is a message for people who do not understand the mechanisms of the market - says Prof. Witold Orłowski, an economist from the Vistula University of Finance and Business and the Warsaw University of Technology, to the Newseria news agency.

- Today, many people, especially young people, believe that you can only earn money on cryptocurrencies. In order to understand, for example, the risk associated with investing, you need to be aware of how finances work. It is more than just a simple calculation of the interest rate.

Every third respondent assesses their economic knowledge as low or very low, and 37% as average. After the last 12 months, 59% of Poles believe that they should save more and more regularly for the so-called rainy day, and half of them declare that savings should be diversified. 1/3 of respondents also indicate that they should limit expenses and lead a more modest lifestyle. Importantly, this answer is more often given by rural residents - four out of 10 respondents. These are the results of the 8th edition of the annual study conducted by the Indicator studio on behalf of the Warsaw Institute of Banking and the GPW Foundation - "Level of financial knowledge of Poles 2025".

- When you ask children where their parents get money from, the most common answer is: from an ATM, and not that they had to earn it, for example. When you ask whether the government has its own money, the answer is often yes, and of course the government does not have its own money. The lack of this basic economic knowledge has a big impact on both the economy, because various mistakes are made, and on the spread of populism, not only in Poland, but also in Europe and the world - says prof. dr hab. Piotr Wachowiak, rector of the Warsaw School of Economics.

In recent years, the sources from which Poles most willingly draw economic knowledge have been changing. The popularity of blogs and internet portals is constantly growing - 62% of respondents declare that they acquire knowledge from them (55% in 2022) and from podcasts and video materials on the Internet - 27% (19% in 2022). On the other hand, the percentage of people who draw knowledge from traditional media is decreasing (34% currently, 49% in 2021). Poles feel the greatest knowledge deficits in the field of cybersecurity (46%). In subsequent places were investing - 32% and the tax system - 28%.

The lack of knowledge is accompanied by the awareness that it should be constantly expanded. 41% of respondents declare that they would like to deepen their knowledge of cybersecurity (which is 3 percentage points more than in last year's edition of the survey), and 24% - of the tax system. However, only one in five respondents would like to deepen their knowledge of investing, despite the fact that one in three respondents declares a lack of knowledge in this area.

- We should be much better educated in the matter of economic processes. The world is becoming more and more complicated, the economy is complicated. Even simple financial tools are not enough, you have to really understand what is happening in the economy, how it is changing, where are the risks, where are the opportunities, how to adapt to it. And unfortunately this has to be done in school, because later it is a bit too late to learn - says Prof. Witold Orłowski.

- We need to find certain systemic solutions to raise the level of economic knowledge of our society - from kindergarten to seniors - indicates Prof. Piotr Wachowiak.

Both experts, however, are not convinced by the idea of ​​introducing an additional subject in school focused on financial education.

- I am against the so-called silo knowledge, i.e. here is mathematics, here is physics, here is history, and here is entrepreneurship. In my opinion, we should rather put effort into making knowledge about the economy interwoven with other topics - indicates professor Witold Orłowski. - Knowledge about finances, simple financial instruments can be just as well conveyed in mathematics lessons. So it is probably not the best idea to create a separate subject, it would be better to think about how to integrate elements of understanding the economy with other subjects.

- We need to take examples from Western European countries, where this economic knowledge is in various subjects, because it can be in mathematics, where the tasks will concern economic issues, it can be in history, where the profiles of entrepreneurs will be presented, in geography, to show various types of economic regions - postulates the rector of the Warsaw School of Economics. - I am not in favor of this being one subject in which economics will be taught. It should accompany us throughout our lives, and therefore in various subjects.

In the WIB and GPW Foundation study, the knowledge of the respondents on investing was once again tested in practice. The respondents answered correctly on average half of the questions on investing. 2% did not provide any correct answer, and 3% achieved a result of 7/7. The society is also afraid of investing because of the lack of familiarity with GPW instruments. 65% of the respondents have heard of shares, but do not know what they are (a slight improvement is visible - last year this answer was given by 70% of the respondents). The same is true for bonds (58%). 3/4 of the respondents have never heard of ETFs. Currently, 44% of Poles do not invest on the stock exchange because they lack sufficient knowledge.

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